Scarlet Destiny
by CharTobitea
Summary: It was like a harsh fairy tale one that included a cold, lonely vampire, a warm, confident maiden, and a pending Happily Ever After. [NejiTen]


Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

**Ariel32:** My first collaboration, dun dun dun. This was a lot of fun to write! I hope our writing styles work well together. I apologize if it's slightly confusing to read. But as one of my friends once said, writing confusingly is another way of saying you write intelligently...XD

**Bya-chan:** Wheee! I'm so excited about this! I've collab'd tons of times, but this is my first with Ariel-chan. We've got a good thing going here-- my suggestion if you get distracted by this prologue is, don't worry; this is just forming the story. The NejiTen will come, I swear! This is sort of based as and around the Beauty and the Beast theme, as well as _'Millennium Snow'_ manga by Bisuko (Bisco) Hatori. Now, enjoy and REVIEW!

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**Scarlet Destiny**

_Prologue_

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It could almost have been a scene out of a fairy tale. 

Hiashi watched them silently from the shadows in the doorway. A little boy knelt in the center of the courtyard, laughing. Around him, a small dog ran in circles, yapping jovially. A stray dog no more, but the boy's face was lit with happiness.

Hiashi's mouth twisted up bitterly. Yes, it could almost be a fairy tale. The story of the Stray Dog and the Little Boy, one mistreated and one lonely, who found each other and became friends. The dog would become a devoted pet, the boy a kind owner. And the two of them would live happily ever after.

Except Hiashi knew only too well that there were no Happily Ever After's.

It was a relatively normal sight; a boy and his dog, playing in the sunshine. Like a picture book-perfect moment. Hiashi's silvery eyes narrowed slightly at the dog. It kept making its way away from the boy, and closer to a large briar patch. The boy, however, was unaware.

It seemed to happen so quickly-- one second, the dog was bouncing energetically around the boy, evading the small hand's grasp, and the next, a paw was tangled in the thorns. The boy gave a small cry of alarm and reached out to pull the dog into his lap. Hiashi's jaw tightened slightly. The fairy tale was coming to an end. The perfect moment was becoming unhinged. The pieces were beginning to fall apart.

--

The boy cradled the dog to his chest. He set the pup down carefully, taking the injured paw in his hand. The dog looked at him with dark eyes, an expression of utter trust. The boy raised the paw slowly, tilting it to see the wound.

He froze.

A single drop of blood rolled down the edge of the puppy's paw.

Slowly, an ache began to form in the back of the boy's eyes. He blinked rapidly, but the ache was spreading, and his vision was going red. He tried to call for help, but then, without warning, he couldn't control his body.

And everything went black.

--

From the center of the courtyard, the puppy whimpered quietly. The boy had his back to Hiashi now, so the man could only see the child's harsh movements. The puppy jerked away from him-- It fell to the ground, twitching and shaking. Hiashi fixed his gaze on the pulse beating in the hollow of the dog's throat. Two dots of red hovered just above it. The pulse slowed.

And stopped.

There was no emotion on Hiashi's stern, graceful features. The puppy when limp and Hiashi watched in cold silence. This was their curse. This was the life they lived. This... this was how they survived. It was, in all terms and aspects, the life of a vampire.

A trail of red dribbled gently down the boy's chin.

--

The boy came slowly back to consciousness. His eyes slid open, and he winced-- _didn't the sun seem brighter than before?_ He brought himself to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. He glanced to his left-- he saw the thorn bush that his dog had gotten caught in, but the dog was missing. He looked to his right.

And he screamed.

A firm hand grasped him from behind and pulled him to a stand while another clamped over his mouth. "Quiet," a familiar, stern voice hissed in his ear. The boy's cries died in his throat, and he shuddered. The hand released him and he stumbled forward. Tears ran silently down his face. He stared, horrorstruck at the motionless form of the puppy.

"Neji," said the voice behind him, and the boy raised his head. Hiashi stood behind him. His gaze pierced the boy's.

Neji reached a shaky hand towards the puppy. He touched the its body and gave another shudder. It was still warm. "What..." he whispered hoarsely, "Uncle Hiashi..." He looked desperately, pleadingly at the older man.

Hiashi's gaze held no sympathy. "This is what we are," he said.

The boy scrambled to his feet. He looked wildly from his uncle to the dead puppy on the ground. "No," he said hoarsely. "I...I didn't kill it..."

Hiashi looked away. "You'll learn," he said distantly. "You'll learn what it's like. This is how we live." He glanced back at his nephew. "This is our life."

He turned away, leaving Neji standing alone in the courtyard. The boy watched him go. His uncle's footsteps fell silently on the earth and he disappeared swiftly into the shadows.

Neji stared down at the dog at his feet. Slowly, he reached out and brushed the still, unmoving form with two fingers. "This is what I am," he whispered to himself.

A monster.

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**Bya: Our uploads will take some time-- Ariel's school starts one week before mine, and we collab by chat. Plus, there's homework, and I've only got every other weekend with a comp that lets me use Gchat. So, no upload pressure!! **

**We heart you! (Now review!!)**


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